Be a Player Position Breakdown

Position Breakdown

When playing Be a Player, you can select to be almost any position on the football field. Unlike some previous iterations of Madden NFL, it's not as simple as just choosing your position and running out there. You need to choose a specialty, or a play style, along with your position.

Your playing style dictates your starting ratings, but you can pour XP earned through Player Weekly Activities into your weaker attributes to become more balanced. Or, you can even ignore your weaknesses entirely and just become a specialist by using all your XP for attributes you're already strong in. Remember that when you're on the field, you select the plays regardless of your position, and you can always select plays that are tailored to your attributes.

Note that in Be a Player, you're not allowed to be any member of the offensive line, a kicker, or a punter. All other positions are acceptable, but for defensive positions, you're not allowed to choose left or right specialists (or free or strong specialists for a safety).

Offense

Quarterback

Balanced: Balanced quarterbacks are fairly accurate with passes and can throw down field, but also have some leg strength to run if the pocket breaks down.

Pocket Passer: Pocket passers are designed to stay in the pocket (the small area that the offensive line is theoretically protecting) and not move. Pocket passers have greater throwing accuracy, throwing power, and elusiveness than balanced quarterbacks, but lack the speed and carrying.

Strong Arm: It's all about the power with these guys. They're similar to pocket passers but have much more throwing power and much less throwing accuracy. If you spend your XP on accuracy, you'll become an immediate threat to score touchdowns when you touch the ball.

Field General: You're smarter than the average quarterback, so you'll have a better intangibles grade, which means you'll gather XP a little faster and you'll have better luck on some plays. Still, you'll start off with all attributes a little lower, and you'll be similar to a balanced QB. Field generals tend to be very good in the long-term, but a little behind in the short-term, so are useful if you plan on playing a full career.

West Coast: West Coast QBs are less about passing than their legs. This specialty means you don't have the strength or accuracy to pass deep, and will have to rely on plays under 15 yards to have any consistency. However, you're very elusive, mobile, and speedy, so you'll be able to escape the rush and run for a few yards if necessary.

Halfback

Balanced: A workman-like runningback, if you're balanced, you can do just about everything, but nothing especially well. You can either spend XP to work on one category to be a specialist, or simply be a jack-of-all-trades who can handle any play the coach throws at you.

Speed: Speed kills, and in your case, you're killing the scoreboard. But the trade-off is that you get tackled easily, and you'll fumble more often than your other counterparts. However, your starting speed attribute will be so high that you likely won't bother putting any XP into it for a couple seasons, so you can try offsetting your weaknesses early.

Power Back: You play smash-mouth football. You're not very fast and likely won't break too many runs, but it's tough on the defense to bring you down. Power backs are best for teams that can get inside the red zone (and especially the 5) because you can power way to the goal line.

One Cut: Similar to a speed HB, you're agile and can make your opponents break their ankles in pursuit. You're also a decent blocker because your agility lets you maneuver quickly to stop the pass rush. However, you'll have slightly less speed than a pure Speed HB, and you can still be easily tackled.

Receiving: You're like an extra wide receiver on the field. You have better catching ratings than other HBs, but you're as easily tackled as a One Cut or Speed back. Your agility does make up for it, however.

Wide Receiver

Balanced: Wide receivers by their nature have better speed, acceleration, and agility than other positions (even balanced HBs), and a Balanced WR will be just about even in all of them. You're decent, but you don't excel at anything.

Speed: You rely on making big catches by running past cornerbacks. You have better speed, but lack the intangibles, and you'll only be able to shine when deep passes are called.

Quick Route Runner: You'll be slightly smaller than other WRs, and you'll be slightly faster than a Balanced (but slightly slower than a Speed WR). You'll also be more agile, but you don't quite have the hands or size to hold onto the ball if you're hit in the midst of catching. You excel when complex routes are called, rather than deep passes.

Red Zone Threat: Your specialty is the Catch In Traffic attribute, which allows you to catch a pass with defenders near you, and hang onto it if you're hit in the act of catching. You're physically larger too, but you lack the speed, acceleration, and overall catch ratings of other WRs.

Possession: The ref keeps having to check your hands for stick 'em. Your Catch In Traffic attribute is second only to a Red Zone Threat, and your overall catching attribute is the best of all the specialties. However, you lack the speed and acceleration of other roles, so good cornerbacks can shut you down.

Tight End

Balanced: As a balanced tight end, you'll be responsible mainly for blocking, but you can catch pretty well too. Still, you won't be particularly good at anything.

Receiving: You have better catching and Catch In Traffic ratings than other TEs, but you're physically smaller and can block as well. Still, just ask Shannon Sharpe: your catching ratings alone can make you one of the best TEs to ever play the game.

Vertical Threat: Vertical threat tight ends are similar to receiving, but instead of having amazing hands, you're faster and better at route running (think of Vernon Davis).

Defense

Defensive End

Balanced: A balanced DE has average physical and intangible ratings, but won't be very good at any one thing. You'll have to work hard to make an impact for your defense.

Speed Rush: You're better at pass rushes than other DEs, so you have better acceleration and block shedding than other DEs (similar to Trent Cole on Philadelphia Eagles), but you'll be physically smaller and can easily be pancaked by a good offensive lineman who's doing a run block.

Defensive Tackle

Balanced: As with all balanced specialties, you have a decent range of skills but don't excel at anything. Like DEs, you'll have to work pretty hard to make an impact.

One Gap Penetrating: These DTs are good at pass rushing by slipping between the offensive linemen. They're physically smaller than other DTs and have better acceleration attributes, but lack the pure tackling power of a Balanced DT.

Prototype: Prototypes are physical specimens. They have all the speed of a One Gap Penetrating DT with the strength and power of a Balanced, but they lack the intelligence and intangibles of those two. In other words, all your ratings will be higher, but you won't be able to gain XP as quickly. It's a good specialty in the short-term, if you don't think you'll play more than a few seasons of Connected Careers.

Middle Linebacker

Balanced: MLBs have the most balanced numbers of all defensive positions, and a Balanced MLB will have the most balanced numbers. You'll be decent at blitzing, man coverage, zone coverage, speed, acceleration, catching, and blocking (on special teams), but won't be particularly good at any one thing.

3-4 Tackler: You'll have better tackling and block shedding attributes than other MLBs, making you pretty good on the blitz. However, you have lower coverage ratings, so you're not very good on the pass. Keep blitzing with this specialty and you'll find plenty of success.

Prototype: Similar to a Prototype DT, you start off with all physical ratings higher compared to other MLBs. You'll be bigger, stronger, faster, can jump higher, and can shed blocks almost as well as a 3-4 Tackler. However, you have low intangibles, so you won't be able to get XP as fast as other positions. This specialty is best used for short-term Connected Careers.

Cover 2: The opposite of a 3-4 Tackler, you'll be physically smaller for a linebacker and act more as a cornerback. You excel at both zone and man coverage (and pursuit if you can stop the pass), but you can't shed blocks and are basically worthless in the blitz.

Outside Linebacker

Balanced: You'll be very similar to a Balanced MLB, but in general, your speed is slightly higher and your physical size is slightly smaller.

3-4 Pass Rusher: Again similar to a 3-4 Tackler MLB, you'll have better speed, acceleration, and block shedding than other OLBs, but you'll lack the physical tackling and coverage ratings. You'll excel on the blitz and suffer otherwise.

Prototype: You'll start will physical ratings better than other positions, but lower intangibles, so you won't be able to get XP quite as fast. Good for the short-term, probably not so good for the long-term.

Cover 2: The opposite of a 3-4 Pass Rusher, you'll be good on coverage but not so hot on the blitz. You'll have higher ratings in man and zone coverage as well as pursuit, but lower ratings in block shedding and tackling.

Cornerback

Balanced: Cornerbacks, like wide receivers on offense, are naturally faster and more agile than other players on defense, so a balanced CB is still faster than MLBs and OLBs. Still, you won't excel at any particular skill.

Man-To-Man: You'll start with much higher man coverage, speed, acceleration, and agility attributes than any other role. You might be outrun by a pure speed WR, but it's unlikely, especially if you can read his route and react quickly enough. You'll lack zone coverage a few points on pure tackling, but you should be able to intercept or deflect passes that come your way.

Prototype: All your physical ratings will be higher, but you'll have lower intangibles and XP gain rates. Good for short Connected Careers.

Press Run Support: You're physically larger than other CBs, and you specialize in knocking the WR on his butt before he can get beyond five yards. You're a solid blitzer, and therefore have better tackle ratings than other CBs. Your speed, agility, and acceleration suffer however.

Zone: Somewhat opposite of a Man-To-Man, you have a solid zone coverage attribute, but all your physical attributes (such as speed and acceleration) are much lower. You need to have decent player skill to know which guy to cover if multiple WRs are coming into your zone, and you have to be willing to abandon the coverage if you're sure the play is going the opposite way. This specialty requires the most personal player skill (as in, you, the person holding the controller) than other CBs.

Safety

Balanced: Safeties' attributes are similar to cornerbacks', so even balanced safeties have better speed and acceleration than other defensive positions. You'll be decent at everything, but legendary at nothing.

Playmaker: You have better intangibles, awareness, and a little more speed than other Ss, but you'll have lower man and zone coverage. Playmaker safeties require careful attention on your part as the human player, so you'll need to be able to think on your feet and alter your strategy as a play progresses.

Prototype: You'll have better physical ratings than other Ss, but lower intangibles and XP gain rates. Good for short Connected Careers, less good for long ones.

Run Support: You excel at safety blitzes, so you have higher pure tackling, block shedding, and pursuit attributes than other Ss, but everything else will suffer. Most teams don't use many safety blitzes, so you may find it tough to succeed unless you're in a team that uses you correctly, sort of like the Arizona Cardinals.